Seed-corn tree.



PATENTED FEB, 4, 1908.

v J. 0. BLACKFORD.

SEED 001w TREE.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1 907.

'11. 'II- 4 I" [n 1/012 for JAMES o. BLAOKFORD,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEED-CORN TREE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb; 4, 1908.

Application filed June 3. 1907. Serial No. 376.905.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. BLAcKFoRD, acitizen of United States, and a resident of the cit of Chicago andfcounty of Cook, State of llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvcmentsin Seed-Corn Trees, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in seed corn trees and has among its-salient objects to provide a device 11 on which a large number of cars can be readily supported u on a relatively small tree and stored in sue 1 a manner as to most perfectly preserve the vitality of the corn; to provide a construction adapted to be suspended in a barn or crib so that the corn may be safe from vermin; to provide a construction which affords most convenient accessibility to the ears without disturbing them upon their supports and also perfect ventilation for the ears; to provide means for properly identifying each ear; to provide a construction which can be easily assembled and disassembled and when not in use packed into a relatively small space for storage and for shipment, and in general to provide an im roved construction of the character referrc to.

I am aware that seed corn trees and racks have been heretofore patented but believe that none of them have embodied in a single structure the advantages of my construction and certainly not in a construction at once simple and economical of manufacture.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description'reference being had to the accompanying drawings in whichv Figure 1 is a erspective view of my device assembled, ant showing the manner of imaling the ears of corn u on the prongs.

ig. 2 is a sectional view talien through line 22 of Fig. 1 and looking u wardly. Figs. 3 and 4 are detailed views s lowing the different manner of arranging the eyes of the prong bars. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the spools and rongs separated.

Referring to t 1e drawings 1 designates the main supporting rod, rectangular in cross section and having an eye 2 at its upper end, and screw thread at its lower end to receive a confining nut 3. Upon this rod are ada ted to be strung a series of s ools or space bfbcks 4 which are longitudinal y bored for this purpose. Between each pair of these spools is inserted a set of prongs, preferably four in number, and consisting of two sheet metal bars 5-5 arranged at right angles to each other. Each bar is centrally widened to form a head 7 through which is cut a rectangular e e'8 or 8 in order that the prong bars may e threaded on the rod 1.

It will be noted that in Fig. 3 the eye 8 is cut on the square in reference to the prongs 5, while in Fig. 4 the eye 8 is cut at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the prong.

5 and 5 upon the rod constitutes one of the novel features of my device; the sets of prongs being so arranged that there will be eight vertical rows of prongs arranged symmetrically around the rod 1, as seen clearly in Fig. 2. To this end the pairs of bars arislippcd upon the rod 1, each pair being spaced away from the succeeding pair by one of the cylindrical spools 4 but so assembled that each pair of bars having angularly-disposml eyes is alternated with a pair of bars having the eyes arranged on the square. lt will thus be seen that the )rongs will be arranged upon the rod 1 in eight vertical rows. This arrangement not only permits ol the corn being more conveniently stuck upon the prongs but also all'ordsnnlch better access thereto for inspection or the removal of kernels and gives better ventilation than if the prongs were arranged in only l'our vertical rows. WVhen the desired number of spools and prong bars are strung upon the rod they are held in place by simply screwing on the nut 3. The rod is then sus )endcd above the floor of the crib by threading a supporting rod or wire through the eye 2 the rod or wire overhead.

The cars of the corn are then impaled upon the prongs for drying. In order to facilitate drying the pith may, if desired, be removed from the car before it is stuck upon the prong, and inasmuch as the latter is llat and of increasing width towards its head the car will be held firmly in place.

In order that each ear ol corn maybe properly indentitied for germinatingtest and other purposes, the )rongs of each rod are provided with suitable tags 10, each adapted at its lower end to tit upon a prong and project upwardly above the butt end of the car when the latter is mounted upon the prong.

and supporting the farmer to select from, and indentil'y the grams with each ear, and plant them in a germinating test box properly laid oil in sec- .tions corresponding to the number of cars.

The manner of arranging the prong bars This tag system is important in that it aids It has come to be customary for farmers to select and transfer their se'ed corn with care and before planting in the spring, to select a definite number, say SIX or ten kernels from each ear, planting them in the germinating bed or box and then after germinating count the number ofkernels lronreach ear Wl'llOh have-germinated. 1n tlns manner the percent. of fertility of each ear may be determined and such ears as fall below a satisfactory percentage of fertility are discarded.

' it will be at once appreciated that in order to so test the ears of cornthe 'group of kernels must be first selected from each ear and some necessary system of keeping such group select the kernels from various portions of the ear. Moreover the farn ier can reach one part of the tree as well as the other because the ears are disposed syimnetrically entirely around the tree. 'The presence of the tag associated 25 with, the prong and ear mounted thereon,

obviously forms the most simple and prac- 'tical expedient of identifying each ear; the

idea being to give each tag and its ear a different ldentir'ymg number. By lettering each separate tree or rack, where a number of trees are used, the farmer may readily distinguish each ear of corn without confusion.

An important feature of the invention is that the device is so constructed that it can::

be put together or taken apart w th the .7 greatest facility; that it requires no'special means of fastening the parts together other than merely assembling them and that when 40 *in knocked down form it can be made into a bar like package which can be shipped with the greatest facility andwith minimum liability of "its becoming injured.

It will be obvious that the construction may-be modified somewhat in the details thereof without departing from tlie spirit of the invention. r

I claim as my invention:

1. In a seed corn tree, the combination with a rod forming the tree body, of a plurality of prong members loosel strung upon said rod, spacing members between said prongs also strung upon said rod, and means confining said prongs and spacing members in position upon said rod.

2. In a seed corn tree, the combination with a rod non-circular in cross-section, of a plurality of sets of prongs fitting, and nonrotatab y ing devices between the several sets of prongs, each set comprising four prongs arranged at ri ht ang es to each other, the prongs of aiternatmg sets extending in planes midway between the planes oi the prongs of adjacent sets.

3. In a seed'corn tree, the combination of a rod-like tree body provided with means for suspending it from above, a series of prong members removably mounted thereon, arranged in symmetrically disposed angular relation to'each other and vertically spaced apart, and means confining said prongs in fixed relation to each other.

4. In combination with a seedcorn tree having prongs the base end portions of which are non circul ar in cross-section, ofa series of tags adapted at their lowerfends to fit upon said prongs and be held in upstandingposition t iereon. I

5. Ima seed corn tree, the combination of mounted upon, saidrod, and spaca rodlike tree-. body of uniform size andir'ectangulai 1 n-cross-sec.tional form throughout its prificipalslength, the crossed pairs of prong. bars provided at their intersections ,vWith. ey'es fitting the tree body, the rem0v-' abIe'sp'ace spools-interposed between the successive pa rs of. rong'bars, and means for remo-vably con in said spoolsaand prong bars upon the tree'iody.

JAMESQC; BLAOKFORD,

Witnesses QEMILIE Ross,

LoIs' FORGE. 

